An Attempt to Prevent Production Diseases in Dairy and ad hoc Treatment Cows by Intense Monitoring

• Published in: Italian journal of animal science Vol. 14; no. 4; p. 3918
• Main Authors: Coiatelli, Matteo G., Giordano, Alessia, Sicilia, Filippo, Moretti, Pierangelo, Durel, Luc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bologna Taylor & Francis 01.01.2015; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Abomasum; Blood levels; Dairy cow; Energy balance; Fatty acids; Glycogenic treatment; Metabolic disease; Metabolites; Placenta; Transition period
• ISSN: 1828-051X; 1594-4077; 1828-051X
• DOI: 10.4081/ijas.2015.3918

A trial has been performed on 201 dairy cows from two Italian commercial herds in order to verify whether the mitigation of a recognized negative energy balance (NEB) by a therapeutic mean may influence the incidence of peri-partum diseases. All animals were tested for beta-hydroxybutyrate (β-HOB) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) three times a week from 2 weeks before the expected due time to 2 weeks after calving. Animals whose blood levels were above β-HOB>1.2 or NEFA>0.5 mmol/L were declared POSITIVE and then split in two groups. Group T animals (n=57) were treated with a glycogenic treatment (ENERGAN KETOSIS, Virbac). The treatment was repeated daily as long as biochemical values remained abnormal. Group C animals (n=48) served as untreated controls. Animals with values within the physiological range over the study period were said NEGATIVE (n=96). This study confirmed that animals presenting excessive β-HOB or NEFA concentrations show a higher risk to get sick during the study period (P<0.05), the major risk being clinical ketosis (P<0.01) and in a lesser extend retention of the placenta (P=0.09). The application of a glycogenic treatment did not show an impact on blood metabolite levels due to huge individual differences. However, application of the treatment for an average duration of 5 days tends to reduce the incidence of all the diseases related to a NEB. Moreover, untreated control animals were more likely to get dislocation of the abomasum (P<0.05) than NEGATIVE animals whereas treated animals were not.